Shoulder Replacement
Your shoulder is a ball-and-socket joint, and it has the greatest range of motion of all the joints in your body. Injury, arthritis, and overuse can cause the cartilage in the shoulder joint to degenerate, leading to pain, weakness, and decreased range of motion.
Total shoulder replacement is recommended for people with bone-on-bone osteoarthritis and intact rotator cuff tendons. The damaged head of the humerus (upper arm bone) is replaced with a metal ball and the shoulder socket is replaced with plastic.
A reverse shoulder replacement is recommended for people with a completely torn rotator cuff that cannot be repaired, severe arthritis with rotator cuff damage, or prior failed shoulder surgery. Traditional total shoulder replacement surgery would still leave these individuals unable to lift their arm. With a reverse shoulder replacement, the position of the ball and socket in the joint are switched. Such placement allows the deltoid muscle to raise the arm instead of the damaged rotator cuff muscles.
In shoulder resurfacing, the cartilage is removed from the damaged head of the humerus and replaced with a metal covering, or “cap-like” prosthesis. Only the diseased part of the joint is replaced rather than the entire joint.
What is a hip replacement?
A hip replacement is when the ball of the hip socket is replaced with a metal ball that connects to the bone of the upper thigh. It is done through a metal stem that goes down the center of the shaft of the femur (thigh bone). The ball sits on top of this stem and the metal acetabulum (hip Socket) articulates with the ball. Various materials including metal, plastic and ceramic can be used as the lining of the socket.
What is a knee replacement?
A knee replacement is when metal pieces replace the end of the femur (thigh bone) and the top of the tibia (shin bone). A molded plastic piece fits between the 2 metallic components acting as a spacer and a bearing. A domed piece of plastic resurfaces the underside of the patella (knee cap).
Joint Replacement Surgery
Also called arthroplasty, joint replacement surgery involves removing the damaged portion of the shoulder, hip, or knee and replacing it with an artificial joint that allows for pain-free movement.
There are a greater variety of artificial joints available now than ever and our experts will help decide which option is the best for your individual needs. When performing total shoulder, hip, and knee replacements, our doctors use Advanced technology to create the strongest replacement possible.
Unlike traditional total joint replacement, joint resurfacing does not remove the bones in the joint, but instead resurfaces the bone with smooth metal. Shoulder and hip resurfacing conserves bone and is a less-invasive procedure than total joint replacement.
